Here’s what will happen to library executive who took Super Bowl tickets
The executive director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District who accepted free Super Bowl tickets is required to implement ethics training for himself and his staff in accordance with an agreement approved Wednesday by the Nevada Commission on Ethics.
Kelvin Watson, who the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported months ago received tickets to attend the Super Bowl in Las Vegas that were valued at around $8,600, was subject to an ethics complaint that was filed in March with the commission.
Watson had asked the library district’s attorney if it was appropriate to accept the gift from the National Football League for working together on a program providing books to barbershops, and the attorney cleared him. Watson also had asked for a third ticket from the NFL.
Ross Armstrong, the commission’s executive director, said during a meeting Wednesday that, because Watson had sought the advice of counsel, he fell under a safe harbor provision in the ethics law.
Even if that attorney’s advice turns out to be incorrect, the commission is limited in the actions it can take, Armstrong said. The commission found a non-willful violation, and the parties participated in a settlement conference that resulted in a deferral agreement.
For one year, Watson must comply with the ethics law and not be the subject of a complaint that a Commission on Ethics review panel finds sufficient cause to refer to the panel, Armstrong said.
He also said Watson must arrange and implement ethics law training for himself and all of the library district’s staff.
If Watson complies with the agreement and meets those requirements, the alleged violation will be dismissed, “and the library district will have a strong ethics foundation to build on going forward,” Armstrong said.
Ethics commissioner Teresa Lowry urged government employees not to accept tickets for the many sporting events offered in Las Vegas, from football to the National Finals Rodeo to Formula 1.
Lowry said Watson’s case is an outlier in that he relied on the advice of counsel, but it can serve as a cautionary tale for employees subject to Nevada ethics laws.
“It was wrong advice. It was bad advice, but our law looks at and gives mitigators to people who reasonably go to their counsel, and the safe harbor implications are then going to apply,” she said. “But just as a cautionary tale, as the events unfold for the remainder of this year and moving forward, if you are a public official, public employee, do not take tickets, accept gifts to these various sporting events.”
Watson did not return a request for comment.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.